{"id":310621,"date":"2025-12-11T11:04:17","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T11:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/310621\/"},"modified":"2025-12-11T11:04:17","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T11:04:17","slug":"lamont-roach-disputes-isaac-cruzs-claim-that-referee-showed-favoritism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/310621\/","title":{"rendered":"Lamont Roach Disputes Isaac Cruz’s Claim That Referee Showed Favoritism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lamont Roach reacted incredulously <\/a>to Isaac Cruz\u2019s claim that referee James Green gave him preferential treatment Saturday night.
Cruz <\/a>criticized Green because the point he deducted him in the seventh round emerged as the difference between \u201cPitbull\u201d settling for a majority draw<\/a> and winning a unanimous decision. Green penalized Cruz (28-3-2, 18 KOs) for hitting Roach (25-1-3, 10 KOs) on his lower back.
 Roach<\/a> recalled numerous instances when Green failed to admonish Mexico\u2019s Cruz for rule-breaking tactics.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know why they think the ref was on my side, when I got hit low a lot,\u201d he said during their post-fight press conference. \u201cIt\u2019s boxing. It happens. But I got hit low a lot and he was holding [in] every exchange. I\u2019m not complaining. It was a hell of a fight, but I really wish it was an even playing field. That\u2019s all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cruz questioned Roach\u2019s recollection of how Green officiated their bout for the WBC interim super lightweight title at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat about the rabbit punches, Lamont?” Cruz said. \u201cThey don\u2019t count? You\u2019re complaining about the low blows, basically. But what about the rabbit punches? \u2026 What about the head butts?\u201d<\/p>\n

Judge Chris Tellez credited Cruz for a 115-111 victory. It was a draw according to judges Cory Santos and Nathan Palmer, both of whom scored their 140-pound fight 113-113.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe judges can be full of surprises,\u201d Cruz said. \u201cAnd just like Lamont saw himself as the winner, I saw myself as the winner. But we can\u2019t control what they decide. They\u2019re always unpredictable, full of surprises. But again, that\u2019s out of our hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cruz saved his harshest words for Green, who was commended for how swiftly he stopped Vergil Ortiz\u2019s vicious second-round knockout of Erickson Lubin on November 8 at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did my job,\u201d Cruz told Premier Boxing Champions\u2019 Brian Campbell in the ring. \u201cI did my work. The referee was on his side and obviously you saw the judges, too. I thought I won this fight and the crowd here in San Antonio saw that I won this. \u2026 I won this fight and the referee took this fight from me.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked if he wanted an immediate rematch with Roach, Cruz replied, \u201cAbsolutely. With a different referee, though. Without the referee being on his side.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keith Idec is a senior writer and columnist for The Ring. He can be reached on X @idecboxing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lamont Roach reacted incredulously to Isaac Cruz\u2019s claim that referee James Green gave him preferential treatment Saturday night.Cruz…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":310622,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,6842,6836,6841,6840,6834,6102,6837,6838,6839,6835,6588,6847,6846,6830,6828,6829,6844,6831,6827,6848,6843,101,6845,6826,6833,56,54,55,6832],"class_list":{"0":"post-310621","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-boxing","9":"tag-boxing-community","10":"tag-boxing-fights","11":"tag-boxing-history","12":"tag-boxing-interviews","13":"tag-boxing-magazine","14":"tag-boxing-news","15":"tag-boxing-photos","16":"tag-boxing-rankings","17":"tag-boxing-schedule","18":"tag-boxing-videos","19":"tag-boxing-results","20":"tag-disqualification","21":"tag-draw","22":"tag-fight","23":"tag-fighter","24":"tag-fighter-news","25":"tag-knockout","26":"tag-latest-boxing-matches","27":"tag-ring","28":"tag-ring-magazine","29":"tag-split-decision","30":"tag-sports","31":"tag-technical-knockout","32":"tag-the-ring","33":"tag-top-fighters","34":"tag-uk","35":"tag-united-kingdom","36":"tag-unitedkingdom","37":"tag-upcoming-boxing-matches"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=310621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/310622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=310621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=310621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}